Without Reason
by acciorock
Summary: Three Marauders and Lily Evans together for a summer at Hogwarts. What could possibly go wrong? Everything, of course. LilyJames.
1. Letters to the Headmaster

**Disclaimer:** Only the little bit of sanity I have is mine. The rest is JKR's.

**Chapter One:** Letters to the Headmaster

Professor Dumbledore –

It is in sad truths that I must say my husband and I have been called out for business this summer and we'll be in America in a week's time. If we may burden you, we wish to request that our daughter, Lily, may remain at Hogwarts for the summer – if it isn't too much trouble. She can help out where necessary and I'm certain that she won't be a nuisance. Please let us know if you can assist us. Thank you very much,

Mr. and Mrs. Evans

- - - - -

_Mr. and Mrs. Evans,_

_I'd be happy to have Lily stay this summer at Hogwarts. I think she'll have an excellent time wasting away hours in our library reading books. She should be fine. We've made arrangements for her to stay in her dorm but she does have free reign of Hogwarts. I must first tell you, however, that only a small number of teachers will remain at Hogwarts this summer, and I myself will be in and out constantly on business… so she may be alone a good deal. Nevertheless, I have some other requests from a few parents in a similar situation as yourselves, so she might have some company. Please feel free to contact me should you need anything else. Yours,_

_Professor Dumbledore_

- - - - -

Professor Dumbledore –

I know we just spoke last Tuesday regarding James's recent detention, but today the misses and myself were told that we'd be up to Ministry work this summer. It's not that we don't trust James and Sirius, but we don't want them to be home alone the entire summer. I'm sure you've been made aware of the goings-on and its been made apparent that we will be near Australia for a month straight and then back here to London for two weeks and then we'll head up to Rome for the remains of the summer for the Ministry. Point is, as I'm sure you've already gathered, we need a place for James and Sirius to stay. If it isn't too much trouble, could they stay at Hogwarts for the summer? We'll be departing last day of term, so please let us know soon, if possible. Sincerely,

The Potters

- - - - -

_Dear Mr. and Mrs. Potter,_

_James and Sirius are welcome to remain here at Hogwarts this summer. They shall have a bit of student company to keep them in line, seeing as I myself will be in and out this summer, too. I will discuss further details with you on Thursday, when we meet about the dinner fiasco from last Wednesday. Yours,_

_Professor Dumbledore_

- - - - -

Albus, darling –

I've heard news from Remus that James and Sirius are staying at Hogwarts this summer and as intrusive as this seems, I was hoping to request that he could stay as well. It seems easier for him to transform in the shelter you've provided for him rather than his set-up here at home. Please let me know soon. Thank you,

Mrs. Lupin

- - - - -

_Mrs. Lupin – _

_Remus is welcome here at Hogwarts whenever he pleases. I shall be happy to have him stay for the summer. Yours,_

_Professor Dumbledore_


	2. The Hogwarts Express

**A/N: **Flip of scene is indicated by an ellipsis (...).

**Chapter Two: **The Hogwarts Express

* * *

_(Letter from the Headmaster to the parents of Lily, James – and Sirius – and Remus)_

_This will in no way interrupt your plans, but I feel it important to inform you that the few students staying will have to ride the Hogwarts Express back to King's Cross and then return to Hogwarts. Also, they haven't been informed that other students are staying._

_Professor Dumbledore_

"We're staying at Hogwarts for summer! This is so boobing fantastic!" Sirius exclaimed as he closed the door of the marauder's compartment.

"Boobing?" Remus asked, looking at his friend worriedly.

"Yes, well… I like boobies and its better than sayin' 'flippin' cause I don't like 'flippin' very much…" he said, not going anywhere with his sentences.

"Mmhmm," James said, nodding his head in fake agreement.

…

"Oh, gosh, Lily, can you believe it? This is our last summer away from Hogwarts!! Then we're back for our last year…" Alice said sadly.

"Well, for me it isn't."

"Lily, you know very well you're not repeating your seventh year," Alice said sternly.

Lily punched Alice in the arm playfully. "I know that, silly," she said. "I meant the summer."

"Oh, really?" asked Alice in confusion.

"Yeah… I told you, didn't I?" Lily answered, slightly lost.

"Told me what?"

"In that case, I guess I didn't."

"Lily, you ought to tell me now."

"I'm staying at Hogwarts for the summer. On my own. Isolated."

Alice let out a shriek. "You ARE?"

"Er – yeah…"

"OHMIGOD!! Lucky!!"

"Haha, maybe…"

"Oooo, I know what you can do!"

"What?"

"Raid the boys' dormitories and vandalize their stuff with girly things."

…

"Fif if sfill."

"Sure it is, Pads."

"Fo one felse fan do fis."

"Oh really?" James challenged.

Sirius swallowed his mouthful of twelve chocolate frogs.

"Yes," he said clearly, taking a swig of pumpkin juice to clear his throat.

"Wanna bet?"

"How much?"

"If I can't do this then I have to steal a pair of McGonagall's knickers and wear them."

Sirius grinned at the idea. "And if you can?" he asked.

"Then you have to take a pair of her knickers and wear them," James said.

Sirius made to interrupt him.

"_While_," James continued, "getting a picture taken."

Sirius thought about it for a minute.

"Who's our judge?" he asked suspiciously, still weighing the options.

"Moony," James said defiantly.

"Pardon?" Remus asked, looking up from his book.

"Be our judge, Moony?" Sirius asked, dropping to the floor and crawling across to Remus's feet, putting his hands on his friend's knees and looking pleadingly at him.

"Er – sure… as long as you get your perverted hands away from me," Remus said, flicking Sirius's hand with his fingers.

"Excellent," James said with a grin.

…

Lily smirked.

"What kind of girly things?" she asked, already playing with the lock to unleash her 'bad self.'

"I dunno… undergarments, feminine things… new bed sheets… paint," Alice said, wishing she could be there to help.

"Oh, this will be _fabulous_!" Lily squealed.

"So when they come back at start of term, they find their stuff all… _girlified_."

Their fellow roommate who was sharing a compartment with them scowled.

"What?" Lily asked her innocently. "I've got to have _something _to do for three months! I'll be all alone in a large stranded castle!" she finished, her voice raising a couple octaves.

The girl smiled at her and laughed, then returned to the book she was reading.

"It's not that bad, is it?" Lily asked Alice.

…

"COME ON, JAMES!" Peter screamed, sounding oddly like a girl.

James gave his friend a scared look (obviously for the boy's sanity), and shoved his ninth frog in his mouth.

"He's got four more to go, Sirius, before he beats your record," Remus said coolly, observing James's bulging cheeks.

Sirius crossed his legs and looked out the window with a pout.

"JAMES! JAMES! JAMES!" Peter chanted. His voice echoed around the compartment as he received odd stares from his fellow marauders.

James unwrapped his tenth frog and popped it in his gob with ease.

"Three more," Remus said, repeating the pattern he'd been using since the second frog.

…

"Do you want to borrow my pink shawl, Lily?" Alice asked as she grabbed her muggle clothes from her trunk. "For use in girlifying the boys' dorms, of course."

Lily laughed at the comment.

"No, I think I'll pass, but thanks."

"Suit yourself," Alice said as she shuffled out of the compartment to change.

…

"Two more," Remus yawned as James held his cheek open while inserting a new chocolate frog into the group of gooey mess.

James raised his eyebrows and nodded enthusiastically at Sirius, his nagging voice of "Haha! Told you so!" echoing in Sirius's mind.

A still silence sat in the compartment as James opened another chocolate frog.

…

"Twenty minutes till King's Cross," Emily, the girls' roommate, said as she plopped back down in her seat.

"Fascinating," Lily said unenthusiastically.

The girls stared at each other in silence for a minute.

"Someone wanna go visit Frank with me?" Alice asked.

"No," the girls said in unison.

…

Wrappers littered the compartment floor like a new layer of carpeting. There was chocolate and some white substance smeared on the window and a string of blue goo sliding down the door. It looked like a small food bomb had exploded in the compartment. But, of course, nothing of the sort had happened. This was typical with boys, Marauders in particular.

Sirius sat in steely silence, watching James's every move as he crammed another chocolate frog in his mouth. His fist clenched tighter as Remus said (with a bored tone), "One more frog."

James took the final chocolate frog with one hand and his bulging cheek with the other. Placing the frog on his lap, he used his other hand to pry open his mouth and stretch his features further (his lips were starting to crack from being stretched so far). He grabbed the frog again and slid it into his mouth, the chocolate melting slightly and leaving a blob of the substance on the corner of his lips.

"Hmm?" he asked, clearly saying, "See?"

"He still has to be able to eat them," Sirius mumbled, crossing his arms in another pout.

…

"Ten minutes, thank Merlin," Emily said.

"Are you going to count down the minutes until we actually get there, Em?" Lily asked sourly, sick of the constant sighs of "nineteen – eighteen – seventeen" and such coming form her friend.

"Well, I wasn't planning on it, but if you'd like me to, I'd be more than happy…" Emily said.

"Em, are you aware that you've _been _counting down the past ten minutes?" Lily asked, straightening her knee-high sock.

"Um… no…"

"Then kindly be aware of it now and shut the ruddy hell up."

…

A large squelching sound was heard as James's teeth sank into the chocolate mess inside his mouth. The sound was followed by another one… and another… and another…

"I don't think he can do it," Sirius said happily.

"I think he can," Peter said with an energetic nod towards James.

James gulped down a mouthful of chocolate and began chewing again on the remaining frogs in his mouth.

"This is rather unappetizing," Remus said with a grimace.

The following five minutes passed in odd silence as the only sound was James's chewing.

"We're getting clo-serrrrrrr," Peter sang.

"Peter, don't you have clothes to change into before we get to the station?" Sirius asked, shooting an annoyed look at his 'friend.'

Peter sighed as he changed out his robes quickly, still watching James eat.

"Hurry it on up, Prongs, ole Wormy here's gotta run in a sec," Sirius said with a sly grin, getting up close and "personal" (although Sirius didn't know the meaning of 'personal') with him.

James raised an eyebrow in mock threat as he continued to chew.

With a surprising gulp, he swallowed the whole mess of chocolate.

"Done," James said with pride. "And McGonagall's knickers are looking pretty nice to me."

…

The girls gathered together in a large group hug as the train slowed to a stop.

"I'll miss you girls so much," Lily said, hugging each of them in turn for good measure.

"Don't forget to write," Emily said.

"And don't forget to give us news!" Alice squealed, giving her friend a tight squeeze.

"I won't and I won't! Don't worry! Have a great summer girls!" Lily said, sniffling a bit.

Lily stood at the door of the train as her friends shuffled off, their trunks wobbling slightly behind them. They met up with their parents and turned; she waved one last wave at them before turning back around and heading back to her compartment for the journey back to Hogwarts. It seemed all too soon for the trip.

…

James and Sirius leapt off the train like ballerinas and onto the platform where all the parents stood. Remus stepped off like a regular gentleman while Peter clambered off with such disgrace that he ended in a pile of a hooting owl, trunks, robes and clammy gray knickers. The boys let out an "urgh" at the sight and waited in laughter as Peter made his way up to a normal standing position; it took him another five minutes to reorganize his bags.

"Shall we depart to give your love one final goodbye kiss?" Sirius asked, bowing to James.

"Yes, we shall," James grinned, ruffling his hair and looking around for Lily.

"I don't see why you do this every year, James," Remus said, coming up beside the boys as Peter was engulfed in a hug from his mother. "It's completely pointless; she doesn't like you and she always tells you to piss off every year you do so."

"But that's her interpretation," James said confidently, standing on his toes for a better view. "I prefer to interpret it as 'playing hard to get.'"

"You may prefer it like that, Prongs, but what you're seeing isn't the truth," Sirius said, sounding oddly like Remus.

"Padfoot, this is going to be one of the last times I ever get to do this," James said, seeming slightly sad for a moment. He looked at Remus. "Moony, next summer will be torture cause I probably wont see Lily again. You do know that, right? I mean… this is slightly important to me, if you don't mind."

"Of course, Prongs," Sirius said, patting his mate on the shoulder. "Let's go give Peter a noogie before we get back on the train," he added as an afterthought, dragging Remus along with him, leaving James to look for Lily.

…

The train probably wasn't going to leave for another couple of minutes. It was time Lily stopped pacing and came to face that fact.

She sighed and dropped onto the compartment seat. Maybe a magazine would make the minutes pass faster.

…

"I don't see her," James grumbled sadly as he joined his friends.

They looked after Peter whose hair was sticking up in a million odd angles as if licked by a cow. He followed his mother through the brick wall then let their eyes travel to girls' boobies for a couple of moments before actually hearing James's words that were spoken minutes before.

"Pardon?" Sirius asked, still oggling a girl with particularly large melons.

"I said I didn't see her," James repeated.

"Oh, sorry mate," he replied.

"Its okay… it's not like my whole life just went down the drain or anything."

"Prongs," Remus said sternly. "This is now our summer vacation. We get to explore Hogwarts. We get to roam those halls like mad and learn every secret we haven't learned yet. We get to know all the goings-on of this gorgeous castle and wander unsupervised. Cheer up, mate! This is going to be the best summer of all time!"

"Wow," Sirius said quietly.

James leaned over to his friend. "What?" he whispered to him, still watching Moony.

"I didn't know he had it in him."

"Had what in him?"

"That ability to drop the Prefect-ism and become… a true marauder."

"Wow," James echoed.

"I know."

…

The stupid kids were already off the pissing train – what was taking them so bloody long to start it back up and hit the tracks back to Hogwarts?

No, Lily wasn't impatient… she was eager. Very, very, very eager.

For nothing, of course.

…

"The train – is – moving."

"Thank you, Padfoot, for making us aware of that."

"No! The train is _moving._"

"Once again, thank you for pointing that out."

"The train is _moving_!"

"What is your ruddy problem?" James roared, throwing his _Quidditch through the Ages _book at Sirius's head, which promptly bounced off with a thud.

"I forgot something!" Sirius cried.

James stared blankly at his friend.

"What, Sirius," Remus said politely, "did you forget?"

"My _Quidditch Illustrated _magazine! It's the swimsuit edition too!"

James and Remus exchanged worried looks.

Sirius whimpered.

"Then RUN, MAN!" James screamed, as he ripped open the compartment door and pelted down the hall after Sirius to collect the magazine.

Sirius wrenched open the side door and leapt out of the train and onto the platform.

"C'mon, Pads! You can do it!" James called encouragingly.

Slowly Remus walked up besides James and stuck his head out the door to see the commotion.

Sirius skidded to a halt where the magazine was abandoned, plucked it from the cement and ran back towards his awaiting friends.

He gasped as he reached out to the door handle, stretching to get aboard.

"Take the magazine!" he hollered, throwing it at James.

James caught it with great ease and held it close, making sure it was safe.

"Sirius! Come on! Just jump!"

"I can't – I can't do it, Prongs!" he cried weakly.

"Yes you can!" James replied loudly.

Sirius gave one great heave and landed with a _thud _on top of James in the train. As soon as the pair got up, they were looking into Remus's rolling eyes.

"You are aware that you're both idiots, correct?" he asked, straightening his robes.

"Yes, of course we are," Sirius said stupidly.

"Then you are aware that the train _wasn't moving at all _whilst your dramatic 'scene,' correct?"

James and Sirius exchanged blank expressions.

"I don't understand you, Moony ole pal," Sirius said, puzzled.

Within a second, Remus grabbed Sirius gruffly by the neck of the robes and thrust his head to the window so his cheek was pressed against the glass, leaving smudge marks.

Sirius looked down at the unmoving platform.

"Well, I'll say, the train isn't moving after all."

…

Lily marched along the hall up to the conductor's compartment. She was ready to give the man a piece of her mind.

Of course, she wasn't able to, seeing as the train had already started to move.

…

"Floral knickers or plaid?"

"I don't know, James."

"Pads, would you like to wear floral knickers or plaid?"

"Does McGonagall even _wear _floral knickers?"

"Well, I'd assume she does, seeing as she's old and every old lady wears floral knickers."

"How do you know that, James?"

"It was a disastrous day, Moony, when I came upon my Grammy's old, graying, floral knickers."

Remus nodded his head in acknowledgement but went back to his book.

"So, Pads," James said again. "Floral or plaid?"

"Can I have plain ones?" Sirius replied with a grimace.

"Sure you can… if you want lacy ones."

"Oh, no, please no! Bad images! BAD IMAGES!" Sirius began punching at his eyes. "BAD IMAGES!"

"Okay, Pads, I get the point!" James said, trying to get Sirius to calm down.

Eventually Sirius stopped abusing himself, and calm was restored to the compartment. Temporarily.

Silence.

"I'm in a Muggle-mood."

"Pardon?" Remus asked.

"Yes, a Muggle-mood."

"And what, Sirius, might that be?"

"You've got those… whatcha'mcallits… ressods?" he asked, snapping his fingers in thought.

"Records?" Remus offered.

"Records! Yes!" he exclaimed happily, waving his snapping fingers around, missing James's face by inches.

"What about the records?" Remus asked cautiously.

"I want to listen to them – dance!"

"Oh dear Merlin," James mumbled, burying his face in his hands.

"Oh! I know!" Sirius said suddenly. "I'll _serenade you, James_!"

James's eyes widened in horror at the idea.

"No, Pads, really, it isn't necessary."

"Oh, I heard a song a while ago… what was it… it was all _girlish _and perfect for you and your Lily obsession."

James slunk lower in his seat, even though there was absolutely no one who could see him and laugh at him for life.

"Bugger!" Sirius exclaimed. He took a lock of his black hair and began to chew upon it while thinking.

"Please tell me you don't have any records with you," James mouthed to Remus.

He looked down sheepishly.

Once again Sirius snapped his fingers.

"I know it!" he squealed.

He drew breath. So much breath, in fact, that he knocked himself over and began a coughing/choking fit. After recovering from his near death experience, he took a smaller breath and began to belt out:

"_I've been cheated by you since I don't know when; So I made up my mind, it must come to an end; Look at me now, will I ever learn?; I don't know how but I suddenly lose control; There's a fire within my soul; Just one look and I can hear a bell ring; One more look and I forget everything, o-o-o-oh; Mamma mia, here I go again; My my, how can I resist you?; Mamma mia, does it show again?; My my, just how much I've missed you!_"

He would have continued into the second verse if it wasn't for the fist that had just made contact with his face.

…

The distant sound of music was starting to drive Lily up the wall. Who on Earth would be singing on the Hogwarts Express when there were no students aboard? Surely the workers on the train didn't sing… and even if they did they wouldn't be singing _Mama Mia_, a _Muggle _song.

She stood up and pushed open the door to her compartment. It wasn't the brightest decision, seeing as the singing got louder with the door open. Lily sighed to herself and shook her head, unable to believe that she was already annoyed out of her mind and she hadn't even gotten back to Hogwarts yet.

She walked slowly down the hall, trying to place the singing. It sounded oddly male. But when the high notes were hit it sounded female.

Lily contemplated going back to her book and just ignoring the music – letting whatever person it was sing to their hearts content – but she fought her own preferred intentions and continued down the hall, determined to find the source of the noise.

…

"Next part!" Sirius called happily. He dodged the pillow that was thrown at him.

"_I've been angry and sad about the things that you do; I can't count all the times that I've told you we're through; And when you go, when you slam the door; I think you know that you won't be away too long; You know that I'm not that strong.; Just one look and I can hear a bell ring; One more look and I forget everything, o-o-o-oh; Mamma mia, here I go again; My my, how can I resist you?; Mamma mia, does it show again?; My my, just how much I've missed you_!"

"Sirius!" James screamed, shoving his fingers in his ears. "Will you shut your pie hole?"

"One more part, Prongsie! Please!" Sirius begged.

James rolled his eyes in response but hit his head against the window nonetheless.

Much head banging followed as Sirius began to _shake his butt _and do random bouts of fist-pumping.

"_Yes, I've been brokenhearted; Blue since the day we parted; Why, why did I ever let you go?; Mamma mia, even if I say; Bye bye, leave me now or never; mamma mia, it's a game we play; Bye bye doesn't mean forever_!"

He continued to shake his butt even though he had stopped singing. He happily caught sight of his reflection in the glass and continued to shake his rear end until he noticed a large yellow sticky note on his behind.

"Well that's one rather embarrassing shadow," he commented. "My arse does _not _look that fat!" He looked to his friends. "Does it?"

James stared at his friend for a moment.

"You done now?" he asked.

Sirius turned around and peeled the sticky note from his bum and read:

_You want to sing one more time? Go ahead but you're getting THROWN OUT THE BLOODY WINDOW WHEN YOU DO_!!!! _Signed, Remus_.

He scratched his nose with the paper, coughed, then said, "Yes, I do believe I am."

…

The singing had stopped. Abruptly, at that.

Lily paused outside one of the many compartments, unable to decide if she should continue the search or just go back to her own compartment. She could be the first one (the _only _one, she reminded herself) to get off the train; she was at the front, like a good student. She wouldn't have to worry about a long walk up to the carriages _after _getting off the train. She'd just hop right off the train and into one of the few carriages that always stood waiting and she'd be back up at Hogwarts before eight. Then, of course, she'd pick up some dinner in the kitchens and return to her room to await the deadly boredom of summer.

Yes, that sounded like a good plan.

Lily reluctantly turned around and headed back to her compartment, to follow her own boring plans.

…

Hogwarts was coming closer; if they craned their necks the right way they could see it in the distance. Another forty minutes or so and they'd be back at the place where they made all their mischief. Hogwarts: the mischief factory. After getting off the train they'd be able to get some slight exercise by walking up to the carriages – they sat in the back of the train, like the troublemakers they were – then go to the kitchens for dinner and retire to their dorms to plot out some pranks and examine the Marauders Map…. If they felt up to it they'd mosey around the grounds for an hour or so before hitting the sack. Or, in Sirius's case, being force-fed sleeping potion after keeping everyone up for two or three hours later than necessary.

With all that in mind, the train slowed to a stop just under an hour later. The three Marauders stretched and yawned, moaned and groaned and got their lazy bums off the train. Lily, however, was already in her carriage before the boys had even gotten the chance to stand upright properly. The sky was bright, not a single cloud out to dampen the mood. Hogwarts was home, and the four students had it all to themselves.

The day was ending but summer had just barely begun.

* * *

**A/N:** Credit to _Mamma Mia_ by _Abba_. The song was apparently a hit in 1977, when this story takes place. 


	3. Seeing Shadows

**A/N:** The ellipsis (…) are used again.

**Chapter Three:** Seeing Shadows

* * *

"Finally," Lily whispered the next morning. For once there was _no _screaming over the bathroom, _no _panics about lost eyeliner, _no _slaps for being woken up early, _no drama_. _Finally_.

Lily strode over to the window and pulled open the curtains, smiling at the view. She opened the window and leaned out, letting the wind play with her hair. Hogwarts was _hers _and _only _hers. _This _was the life.

…

"Do you think they'll still make us breakfast like during the year?" Sirius asked, slightly panicked.

"Of course," Remus said, pulling on his jumper. "They have to… that'd be, like, child abuse if they didn't."

"Can house elves abuse children?" he asked.

"_No_, Sirius," Remus said. "But _I _can if you don't shut up."

Sirius shut up.

"Isn't this cool?" James asked, pulling open the curtains of his window and looking down at the grounds. "This is _all ours_."

"It's always ours, Prongs," Sirius said, scratching his bum.

"Please remove your hand from that area, Sirius," Remus begged, shielding his eyes.

Sirius continued to scratch.

James sighed as he opened the window.

"This is _great_," he said, leaning out to look below him. He looked around, happy to still be at Hogwarts. To his left, up, down and to his right, back to his left.

He did a double-take, then whipped his head back into the dorm.

"Oh Merlin, I think I'm dreaming," he mumbled.

"And why's that, Prongs?" Sirius asked, joining James by the window.

"I think I just saw Evans."

…

Lily pulled her head back in the window and counted to three.

She was dreaming.

Dreaming, dreaming, dreaming.

_Please _be dreaming.

It wasn't James Potter, surely it wasn't. If James (_and his fellow bum boys_, Lily thought sourly) was staying at Hogwarts, Dumbledore would have told her. Of course he would.

She was just seeing her shadow in the glass or something. Yes, it was just her shadow.

…

"No way!" Sirius exclaimed, poking his head out the window and nearly toppling out.

After a moment or two he withdrew his head. "Yep, Prongs, you're dreaming… I don't see anyone there."

"Really?" James asked weakly. He'd let his hopes get up.

"Truly."

James sighed. "Yeah, okay… it was probably just my imagination or something… or my shadow or whatever."

"I'm sure that's what it was. Evans wouldn't be here."

"Yeah…"

…

Lily stretched, took her shower, got ready, talked to the house elves, got some breakfast, wandered the halls to see if any of the professors were there, talked to some of the portraits, fed toast to the giant squid and found her feet leading her to the library.

She had always liked the Hogwarts library. It was like all of the universities' in Muggle London. But it was better. It had every document ever recorded (that was "appropriate") that had to deal with Witches and Wizards alike. It had all the _Daily Prophets _from the day Hogwarts was founded. Some shelves were dusty, due to lack of curiosity from the students. Some shelves were perfectly waxed from always being touched. There was, of course, the Quidditch section, which never had a single book in; they were always checked out by a member of one of the four teams. There was the Charms section, her favorite, which always proved interesting. There was the extra study area, one she knew to hold certain Dark Arts books that no one – except few of the Slytherins – had ever touched. Then, of course, there was the snogging section.

No one actually knew how the students got away with it, what with Madam Pince always on the loose, ready to curse a student senseless if they so much as wiped a bogey on the inside of the books cover. But the snogging shelf was popular. James Potter and his cronies (James and Sirius in particular) were usually always reported to have had a girl by that shelf; for some reason the rumors on Potter had stopped. Some say he's stopped coming. Lily didn't believe it too much.

Rumor also said that someone had put a permanent sticking charm on a quill (much like the one of a certain Rita Skeeter's) and bewitched it to record the names of each couple that came back to the snogging shelf and make note of which bases the students reached. It was a wicked little quill that always produced many suspicious looks from students to the recent guilty couple. Once again, the students believed it to be the work of James Potter and his cronies. Thought it'd be funny to hear what other students got up to – or into.

But Lily wasn't in the library to investigate the snogging shelf. She wasn't there to check out a Quidditch book for the first time in her life. No, she was there for the dusty shelves. The one that never got looked at. She was going to mosey around and read the things that she hadn't read before. She was there to look at the shelf that the marauders were inseparable from for their first four years. She was there to read up on the secrets of Hogwarts.

…

"Can we do something?"

"We're already doing something."

"Well… do something prank-wise."

"We always can, I just don't see what the point is right now. There's no one to play the pranks on… and if it's a big enough prank Dumbledore will have flat out proof that it was us, seeing as we're the only damn students here," Remus said wisely, jumping the trick step.

"Bugger," Sirius mumbled. "Then how are we going to have fun this summer?"

"We can look at the library," Remus suggested, glowing at the idea of so many books all to himself.

"No," Sirius and James said together. "We're not doing nerd-like things."

"Reading isn't nerd-like," Remus protested.

"Oh yes it is," James said, turning the corner. "It totally is."

The trio walked in silence for couple minutes, heading towards the Room of Requirement.

"When's full moon?" Sirius asked.

"A week and a half," Remus said with a grumble.

"Oh… we should have some fun soon, then."

Remus threw a nasty look at Sirius.

"Speak for yourself," he growled.

"Oh, sorry, Moony," Sirius apologized.

The group continued to walk in silence.

"So what are we going to the Room of Requirement for, again, Prongs?" Sirius asked.

"We're looking for something," James said.

"And what something might that be?"

"I want to see if Evans really is here."

"And how do we find that out?"

"I don't know… crystal ball? We just have to look for – need – something that can help us find out if she's here or not."

"I still don't get it… Moony, is there anything that does that?"

"No," Remus said. "James, I really don't think you'll have any luck… I've read a bunch of books on Wizardry inventions and I haven't seen a single thing about tracking someone. Oh Merlin," he said after a moment. "You're _stalking _her… _again_."

"Last time she was aware that I was following her! And I refuse to be given the title of 'stalker,' so kindly do not say that. And I'm not _stalking her_, I'm trying to find out if she's here at Hogwarts or not!"

"Then why don't we just look around?" Remus protested, not liking the idea of stalking his friend.

"Hogwarts is huge, Moony!" James said, spinning around to face his friend. "There are way too many places to look! Where could she possibly be?"

Remus grinned. "The library?"

James and Sirius pouted as Remus wore a triumphant smile. They all knew he was right.

"Fine," he grumbled.

The three turned on their heels and towards the opposite direction, started heading to the library.

…

The ceiling was high. Really high. Looking up, it was the height of three-story building. And this was the back section that no kid ever ventured… the only area with "Secrets about Hogwarts" whispering in the dust.

Lily had looked at the shelves that were at eye-level but not a single one looked interesting. They were just her simple books, the ones about Hogwarts _tradition_, none about the _secrets_. So she stepped on the ladder and walked up three steps. She reached out and picked up a book and found, to her disgust, that the following nine steps would be just like the one she was holding, which was all about the _founders _and _why they formed Hogwarts_, which was a pretty stupid thing to write a book about, she thought, seeing as the Sorting Hat sung the story every year. But whatever.

So she was already up twelve steps, the near equivalent of _one whole story_. Lily didn't fear heights all that much but she was considering it every time she looked down. She took another two steps and reached out, once again praying that this would be the shelf with secrets. She glanced at the title, _The Founders and Me_, knowing she shouldn't even bother to touch the book. She continued her climb, until she was almost _two stories _up (the thought scared her to death). The search was worth it when she saw the title, _Passages Only Known to Troublemakers – Hogwarts's Secrets Unveiled_. She grinned at the idea and pulled the book. She knew she'd hit herself moments later, but nonetheless took the book and dropped it, letting it fall to the ground.

It hit the tile with an echoing _thud _and the covers opened, leaving the pages slightly bent. Dust flew up at her as it made its way out of the pages. She coughed, unable to believe that these books really hadn't been touched in that long. She shamed herself silently, disgracing herself for _dropping a book_.

Lily looked up at the many shelves left. How the Marauders did this, she honestly didn't know.

…

As the marauders approached, they heard an echoing _thud _in the library's walls.

"Peeves must get up to trouble over the summer too," Sirius observed, opening the door to the library.

"Of course he does," Remus said, pushing past Sirius and breathing in the friendly smell of books.

"Lets get to work. We're looking for Evans," James said, poking his head down one row of books.

"I forgot how huge this thing was," Sirius said, looking up at the many shelves.

"It's pretty obvious that you'd forget, Sirius," Remus sniffed. "Seeing as you stopped coming at the end of fourth year."

"Well, we'd checked out every book necessary and bought the rest of them. Why would we come back to the library? We'd gotten the Animagi thing down."

"So? The books don't like to be _forgotten_… they're like a girlfriend. Stop visiting and they'll start to hate you."

"Oh… so that explains the hate mail I got last year," Sirius said, rubbing his chin in thought.

"Evans," James repeated.

"Right-o, Prongs," Sirius said. He turned away from Remus and began to look up and down the dusty shelves.

"Why don't we just call her?" Remus asked.

"Because… if she's on a ladder and she hears our voices, she'll, like, freak out and fall… we can't hurt my future wife," James said, heading towards the charms section.

"Sure," said Sirius. "We'll just walk up behind her while she's on the ladder and scare her to death. That's _completely _different from calling her name."

…

After Lily dropped _Passages Only Known to Troublemakers – Hogwarts Secrets Unveiled _to the ground, she looked up at the many towering stacks of books and found it hopeless. She'd read the book she'd found and if it wasn't good enough (it was the size of a small encyclopedia – it should be) she'd return to the aisle and continue her search. She'd made her way down the ladder smoothly, picked up the book and made her way towards the south exit of the library. She was walking out just as she'd heard the north entrance open.

It was probably Madam Pince coming to check on the books. No one else was in the castle, after all.

…

"I don't see her, James!" Sirius called from the opposite end of the library.

James and Sirius were standing by the exit, waiting for James as he trudged towards them, looking upset and depressed.

"Aw, c'mon, Prongs, cheer up," Sirius said, patting him on the back. "You didn't really think Evans would be here, did you?"

James mumbled something like "yes."

"Well… you could owl her if you like… just please don't make us go searching for her."

James glared at his friend but nodded his head nonetheless.

"Great," Sirius said, clapping his hands. "Cause I feel in the mood for an outing."

…

There wasn't all that much in the book. All it was was a stupid monologue about a trouble-maker's seven years at Hogwarts and one secret passage that they'd found. That didn't really go anywhere.

The secret passage was behind a mirror on the fourth floor. If you followed it, the book said, it would come out to a door in a dark alley a block away from Madam Pudifoots. It didn't seem all that dangerous, seeing as the stupid bloke that wrote it was still alive after many of these trips to write the book.

Evening was fast approaching and the clock was about to chime five. Lily wanted to take the passage and actually see if it did come out by Madam Puddifoots, but she was going to wait a bit so she could get her cloak and wand and prepare herself. It was slightly disturbing, going through an unknown passageway. Seeing as the first thought that came to her mind after deciding to go was a ghostly echo of, "_You're a Marauder now_."

…

Five thirty approached and Lily was at the mirror on the fourth floor. It was stupid to say that she was nervous but she'd never been _bad _or _rebellious _or _Marauder-like _at any time in her life. This was a rather big emotional step for her. In the back of her mind she was hoping that some counselor would just pop out of the sky and tell her what to do… and they could do counselor stuff and _counsel _her and help her.

But no such luck, seeing as Hogwarts didn't have counselors. Apparently, if you had a problem, you were supposed to go to one of your _professors _and trust them with your secrets. They'd help you, of course, but by lunch the next day it'd be news to all the other professors – Dumbledore, too – after being discussed multiple times in the staff room.

Poor Stacy Adams learned that lesson after she went to Professor Sprout for advice about her boyfriend. Apparently he was a bit _pushy _and she wanted the bases as well, but she wasn't sure of what to do. She was brought into a discussion with Dumbledore and after much blushing on her part and odd coughs on Dumbledore's she was free to leave. But, naturally, all the professors knew about it and stared at her and her boyfriend whenever they walked past, holding hands. Stacy would immediately drop his hand and look away. Poor boy never really knew what happened.

With no counselor near, Lily was left to her own resources. So she pushed the mirror aside and made her way into a small hallway.

There was no where to go. It was a complete dead end.

She walked forward, wondering if there was maybe a left or right turn to take. But one step to far landed in:

Thump. Thud. "Ow!" Bonk. Thump. "Owwwww!" Thud. Crash. "Sodding hell!" Thump. Thud. "Oh… my bum…"

Stairs.

Lily stood up and straightened her robes, rubbing her bottom and cringing in pain. She looked around and found that the only way to continue along the passage was to turn left. So she did. She walked twelve steps and hung a right. The path never seemed to end. She continued walking forward for another ten minutes before another pair of footsteps joined her own. She stopped. She heard the odd _clip clop _sound of steps. Three sets of feet. Her heart was pounding so hard she wouldn't be at all surprised if the roof collapsed on her, her beats shaking the rock. But her heart rate slowed a bit when she heard the walking stop. It was "safe" again.

She continued to walk – with a bit more vigor – until she met another left. She took it.

Until she heard running behind her.

"Get back here you no good toe-clipping!" a voice hollered.

Two pairs of running feet. Towards her.

"Give me back my wand!" the voice yelled.

"You never had a wand, Prongs, you Nancy-boy!" another voice yelled.

"I'll have you know I've got a bigger one!" the first voice screamed proudly.

Lily stopped dead in her tracks, frozen to the spot.

"You can't run that far, Padfoot!" the first voice yelled.

Lily saw the shadows steps behind her and her heart began to race. She was literally being followed. By some mass-murderer. She was going to be murdered in a dark passage heading to Hogsmeade! She'd never see light again! She'd never-

Two male voices were screaming back at each other, one turned around, running backwards, the other's hands mere inches from the backwards one's neck.

Lily's shrill high-pitched scream echoed in the passage as the two figures collided with her. And then fell on her.

Much screaming continued when she saw whose body was pressed down upon her own. Her eyes widened in horror as she looked up into the face of James Potter.

James's face glowed in delight at seeing Lily… and being on top of her.

"Prongs, mate," Sirius mumbled, his voice odd as if pressed against the concrete. "Could you kindly lift yourself up? My leg is underneath you and on this chick's… something."

"Oh thank Merlin." Lily breathed a sigh of relief at knowing that it was just a leg.

James and Sirius got up and dusted themselves off. James offered Lily a hand to help her up just as Remus came into view.

"You two are such pricks! When will you _learn_?" he asked, shaking his head at the pair before catching sight of Lily. "Lily!" he exclaimed, taking a step or two back, shocked.

"Lily?" Sirius repeated, turning around. "Shite!" he yelped, backing up a bit, realizing that it was indeed Lily Evans.

"Hello, Remus," Lily mumbled, accepting James's hand up. She couldn't help but feel a slight tingle as she held his hand.

"I told you!" James said happily, pointing at Sirius. "I knew she was here!"

"So that _was _you I saw this morning!" Lily said, as the pieces clicked into place… like in the library.

"Yeah," James agreed, then looked at Moony. "See? It was her."

"Okay, Prongs, we've got it," Sirius said, rolling his eyes.

The group stared at each other.

James stared at Lily. Lily stared at Remus. Remus stared at Sirius. Sirius stared at James.

"Hold it," Sirius said, although no one was moving or doing anything of any sort. Sirius turned to Lily and stood in front of her, his face inches from her own. Then, he growled, "How do _you _know about this passage?" Sirius turned to look at James, raising his eyebrow in question.

"I never told her, if that's what you're implying," James said. Then he too looked at Lily. "Yeah, how _do _you know about this passage?"

"Oh," Lily said, temporarily forgetting where she'd found out about the passage. "I read it in this book." She pulled out _Passages Only Known to Troublemakers – Hogwarts Secrets Unveiled _and handed it to Sirius.

He flipped through the book then slammed it shut with a grimace.

"Ruddy hell," he said. "So all those years of pain-inflicting torture, injuries and sneaking around and we could have just read a sodding _book_?"

"Hey!" Remus protested. "Without those adventures the lot of us probably wouldn't be mates."

James nodded his head in agreement.

"I wonder what prick wrote that. He obviously isn't skilled… he never got to the level of a Marauder," James said with pride.

"That's for sure," Sirius seconded.

"So, Evans," James purred after a moment. "Where you be headed in Hogsmeade?"

Lily took a step back from him.

"I wasn't really heading anywhere, Potter," she said. "I was more interested in following the passage."

"Looks like Evans wants to be a Marauder," Sirius said with a laugh.

"Oh really?" James asked. "Well you know what you've got to do to become a Marauder, Evans?"

"What?" Lily growled.

"You've got to kiss a member of the crew," he said, puckering his lips.

"In that case I'd kiss Remus," Lily said flatly.

James's smile fell and Remus blushed.

"Not," Lily said, "that I even want to become a Marauder."

"Everyone wants to be a Marauder, Lily," Sirius said confidently.

"I guess I'm not everyone, Black," she snapped.

"But you are being awful _Marauder-like_," James purred. "I like that kind of rebellion in a girl."

"Too bad they don't like it in you, Potter," Lily hissed.

James was about to make a retort when Remus interrupted him.

"Are you staying for the entire summer, Lily?" he asked.

"Yes," she said, throwing a glare at James. "Are you?"

"Of course," Sirius replied for him.

It was Remus's turn to glare.

"Then might I make a proposition?" he asked.

"You might," Lily said, shifting her weight.

"Then may I say that since the four of us are going to be sharing Hogwarts together this summer – that we'll be in constant way of each other – it would be better to put aside differences and become _friends_. That we might be able to make peace with people – particularly you and James. I would much rather enjoy this summer than have it be like a typical school year," he finished with an unpleasant grimace.

Lily looked at James and sighed, shifting her weight again. She glanced at the ground then looked at him and sighed again. She repeated the move twice. Then she looked at James and stared him straight in the eye.

"Fine," Lily said, giving in.

"Excellent," Remus said, walking up beside her. "Then, are we going to Hogsmeade or back to Hogwarts?"

"I vote for Hogsmeade," James said.

"I second that," Sirius said.

Remus looked at Lily.

"Sure, why not," she said.

"Then lets go to Hogsmeade!" he said cheerfully, linking arms with Lily and leading the way along the passage.

Lily giggled but walked with him all the same.

"I think you just lost your girlfriend, mate," Sirius said to James.

"I've noticed," he growled.

- - - - -

The book was right. When you followed the "secret" passage it did indeed come out at a door in the dark alley a block away from Madam Puddifoots. Lily was rather curious as to know how the Marauders had stumbled across this secret passage but she kept her mouth shut. She knew they sneaked around… the answer was almost obvious. But after the shock of running into them had worn off everything started to sink in. She'd be spending her _entire _summer with these boys. And she was the _only _girl. And two of the boys in the group were very _active _and one of those two happened to _like her very much_.

As the group emerged from the alleyway they wandered around. James took great time showing Lily around the places of Hogsmeade that she'd never seen – or visited – before (in her four years of coming). She noticed the nasty looks he threw at Remus on occasion but she assumed it was something that she neither cared nor knew about. So once again she kept her mouth shut.

They wandered into Honeydukes and got some chocolate (Remus stuffing his face and pockets with the substance) before retiring to the Three Broomsticks for butterbeer. They all lounged around the table and talked for a while (Sirius and James eagerly talking about things they could get up to and Remus and Lily discussing the next years prefect duties).

Lily yawned and glanced at the clock above the bar.

"Oh! It's nearly eleven! Have we really been busy this whole time?" she asked.

James and Sirius glanced at the clock dismissively. "Yep, guess so," Sirius said.

Lily sent a questioning glance towards Remus.

"We usually stay out later than this. Eleven o'clock is nothing," he said, nodding towards the other boys.

"Oh… so I take it none of you are tired?"

"Not particularly," Sirius and James said together.

"Well, I am… so I think I'll be getting back. Remus, care to join me?" she asked, scooting out of the booth.

"I'd love to," Remus said, also getting out.

"Actually," James said hastily, downing the rest of his drink and standing up. "I think I'll join you guys, too."

"There's no need, James," Lily said, pulling her cloak tighter around her. "It's obvious that you and Sirius want to stay out later. It's fine with Remus and me. We can walk back together."

"No, really, Lily, I want to go back to Hogwarts too," James said, looking deep into her green eyes.

"Proooooooongs," Sirius whined.

"See, James?" Lily asked, waving her hand at Sirius. "He wants to stay – you do, too. Remus? You ready?"

Lily and Remus walked out the door, James staring after them, his mouth open like a gaping fish. He watched them until they disappeared from sight. Then, he turned around, and:

"You stupid prat!" he yelled, slapping Sirius on the shoulder.

"Owww! What?" he asked, rubbing his shoulder.

"Now they're going to be alone together! Can you not put the pieces together?" He waved his hand violently in the direction where they'd disappeared.

"What? You think Remus would shag her? Hell, he doesn't do that, Prongs!" Sirius exclaimed, getting up and following James to the door.

James groaned. "I didn't think of that!"

"Evans isn't like that – Moony isn't either," Sirius said confidently as they strolled down the street.

James sighed.

"I'm sorry, Prongs… I guess I didn't realize."

"You realized hours ago when you commented that I'd _lost my girlfriend_," James spat, obviously in a right temper.

"Prongs!" Sirius exclaimed, grabbing his friend by the shoulder. "Moony is a _Marauder _– we have the Dibs Pact! You have Dibs on Evans! He would _never _go out with Evans! So just _relax_, mate."

He mumbled something incoherent.

Sirius rolled his eyes, preparing himself for a this-is-the-truth-talk.

"James, if Evans doesn't like you then you've got to _live with it_. You're just depressing yourself by moping around this way. Don't get your damn hopes up!" He shook James. "Now, lets get your mind of it… wanna go get some fire whiskey?"

"Yeah…" James mumbled. "I feel like getting drunk."

"Then it's settled," he said, dropping his hands from James's shoulder. "Let's go get drunk."

…

"I had fun tonight, Remus," Lily commented when they emerged from behind the mirror.

"Yeah, me too," he said, holding the door open for her.

"Although I must admit, this summer is going to be really interesting," she said with a laugh.

"How so?"

"Well… I'm sharing Hogwarts with three of the famous Marauders. There's going to be a lot of trouble, am I right?"

Remus laughed. "Not nearly as much as during the year… they have a better chance of getting caught over the summer. Its just going to be pranks between the four of us, mainly."

"That makes me feel much better," Lily said, chortling. "I suppose I should lock the dormitory door before I go to bed now."

"That would be advised," Remus said with a nod as they reached the portrait of the Fat Lady.

"G'night, Remus," Lily said as she reached the staircase to the girls dormitory.

"'Night, Lily."

* * *

**A/N:** Dibs Pact is something from a one-shot (One Moment) under my old pen name, Mistress of Dreamz, in case you wanted an explanation. And James was so excited to think that Lily was at Hogwarts that he didn't even think of using the Marauder's Map (that would have just ruined a whole chapter, if he had). 


	4. Fire Whiskey

**A/N: **Nothing to say today.

**Chapter Four: **Fire Whiskey

* * *

James and Sirius made their way into the Gryffindor common room at three A.M. with many difficulties. They stumbled through the portrait hole, James promptly tripping over a rug.

"Hahaha, shats a shug! Pads! Haha, look, I shipped oshur a shug!" James slurred, pointing to the rug.

Sirius joined James in the maniacal laughter. They stopped abruptly. "Shats not shunny," James slurred.

The pair headed towards the boys' staircase and made a vain attempt to head up the stairs at the same time, resulting in being squished shoulder-to-shoulder between the brick. They struggled against each other, each trying vainly to move forward. Ten minutes later, with little success, James finally broke through and tripped up the stairs, smashing his face into the wall multiple times, laughing like mad each time he did so.

They made their way up to the dorm, giggling the whole way, and leaned against the dormitory door, pushing on it to open.

"Open, shoor!" James pouted at it, slamming his shoulder against the door, making quite a racket. "Open!"

"Haha, Prongs, shook!" Sirius pointed to the doorknob. "Shook! It's all round shand smooth." He giggled.

James joined in on the giggling and continued to attempt to open the door.

"What the hell?" said a voice from the other side of the door.

Just as James was trying to break the door open, it swung open to admit them, Remus standing in front of them in his pajamas, his finger book marking a page in a book.

James crashed to the floor, Sirius stumbling in after him.

"Haha, shook, Pads!" James giggled, clinging to the fabric of Remus's pajama bottoms. "It's Shmoony!"

"Right shoo are, Prongs," Sirius said, swaying from side to side.

"James, are you _drunk_?" Remus asked, bending down to check James's eyes. He sighed. "Yes, of course you are. Come on, get out of the doorway," he said, standing up and pulling James by the wrist out of doorway. He closed the door behind him.

"Haha, Prongs, shush what?" Sirius slurred, pointing his finger at the bedpost.

"Haha, Pads, shut?" James asked.

"Haha, Evans is sherty," he said, glancing at the picture of Lily that James had stolen in third year and kept on his night stand. Sirius began to giggle before promptly passing out on his bed.

"Evans…" James repeated, seeming sober for a moment.

"James, c'mon, get up," Remus encouraged, helping him up.

"Lily…" James murmured.

"What about Lily?" Remus asked, sitting James down on his bed.

"She shikes you…" James choked.

"No she doesn't, James."

"She wanted to shalk with shoo…"

"We both wanted to leave, that's all, James."

"Shno its shnot."

"James, quit thinking about Lily. Lets just get you into bed, okay?" Remus made to move to get James's pajamas but James stood up and got close to him.

"Just shake her, Moony," he growled.

"I don't want her, James – you do," Remus said calmly, once again moving to get James ready for bed.

"Shesh you shoo! I show you shoo!" he cried.

"No, I don't," Remus repeated calmly.

"Just shake her!" James screamed, his face turning red.

"James, listen to me," Remus said, attempting to sit him down.

"Shno!" James screamed, pushing Remus back. "Shoo listen stoo me!"

Remus stumbled but caught himself on the bedpost.

The door opened as a disgruntled Lily Evans appeared at the door, her hair slightly mussed, dressed in loose black pajama pants and a tight white tank top.

"What's all the racket about?" she asked. She observed the situation but before she could get a word in edge wise – or be noticed – James went into a rage.

"It shoesn't matter, Moony! Shoo don't care shat I love her! Go ashead and shirt with her! I don't scare! She shoesnt love me – she loves shoo! Sho take sher!" James screamed, in hysterics, with tears threatening to erupt from his eyes.

"James!" Lily exclaimed, rushing up to him. "Are you _drunk_?" she asked. She turned to Remus. "Is he _drunk_?"

"Apparently so," he said with a nod.

"Lily!" James exclaimed. "Shere's your lover!" he declared to Remus, pointing to her. "Just shake her!" he yelled again.

"James – no!" Remus exclaimed. "You are out of your mind! Just calm down and lets get you to sleep!" he said, trying to sit James down again.

"Shno!" he yelled, pushing Remus back once again.

"James!" Lily screamed, slightly frightened.

"Sit doesn't shatter, Smoony! She doesn't love sme! So shake her!"

"James, please," Lily said, tearing up at the sight. "Please calm down, James."

James studied her but quieted all the same.

"Remus, help me," she begged.

Remus stood up and helped her take James's robes off and get him into his bed. She flicked her wand and a goblet of potion appeared.

"Drink this, James," she said, handing him the goblet.

He drank obediently and was out like a light within minutes.

Lily sighed. "Care to explain all that?" she asked.

"I don't really even know what it was about. He was drunk and upset."

Remus looked at James before drawing the curtains around his bed.

"About me?" she whispered.

"I think it'd be safe to say yes," Remus said, walking over to take Sirius's trainers off. He tugged on Sirius's robes until they came off and pushed him all the way on his bed before covering him with a blanket and closing the bed curtains.

"Oh," Lily said softly.

The two looked at each other in silence for a minute.

"You know," Lily said, twirling a lock of her hair around her finger, "I shouldn't really be here – I'm just causing trouble…" she trailed off.

"No you're not, Lily," Remus said defiantly.

"Yes I am!" she protested. "Look at James!" She indicated the now snoring James.

"James was just like that because he is completely obsessed with you and so much _in love _with you. And he was drunk! He doesn't normally act like this! He wouldn't even if it was for a prank!"

"But Remus…" Lily gasped, a tear leaking from her eye. "Bugger," she mumbled, wiping the tear away with the back of her sleeve. "Damn, I don't even know why I'm crying," she sniffed with a laugh.

"Lily, its okay," Remus said, walking up to her and hugging her. "It's not your fault that James was the way he was tonight. He's just had it a bit rough with you, is all."

Lily sniffed. "Yeah, I suppose so."

"You okay?" he asked, pulling away.

"Yeah… thanks," she said, wiping her nose on the back of her sleeve. She laughed. "Oh, this is so silly." She stomped her foot in aggravation.

"You're just stressed… you've never seen James act this way before."

"That's probably it…" she said, glancing woefully at the door.

"Go to bed, Lily. It's late. We'll see you in the morning." He walked to the door and held it open for her and watched as she walked out.

"G'night, Remus," she said. Then she glanced at the two occupied beds. "G'night, boys."

- - - - -

James sighed. "Pads, did you wet the bed _again_?"

Sirius yawned and stretched, rubbed his bleary eyes, made a couple yapping sounds then looked at James with a wavering gaze. "Pardon?"

"Did you wet the bed?" James repeated.

Sirius looked down at his bed; a large wet puddle was in the center of his bed.

"Oh."

"Yes, 'oh,'" James said, rolling his eyes. "But did you wet the bed?"

"I think I might've gotten a wee bit _excited _last night a-"

James cut him off. "I don't need to know the details of you shagging yourself, Pads."

"That wasn't it," Sirius growled. "As I was _saying_, I got a bit excited from the alcohol and probably transformed… then, y'know… I drooled. A lot," he said, grimacing at the drool on his bed.

"Oh, that's just nasty," James said, backing away. "I pity any woman that sleeps with you…"

"The blonde from Hufflepuff or the brunette from Ravenclaw?" Sirius asked, confused.

"Oh God!" James exclaimed. "Do you take them in _here_?" He examined his bed and poked the sheet with disgust.

"No… we use the trophy room."

"Oh… that's unwanted information, Pads! Now I can't go in there ever again!"

"Like you go in there any more! Ever since you decided to try to _prove that you can be good _to Evans, you've stopped doing _everything_! You don't even go to the snog shelf anymore!" By now Sirius had gotten off the bed and was using many hand gestures to prove his point to James, who was a foot away from him.

James was quiet for a moment while he looked down at the ground.

"I don't snog _you_, Sirius," James snarled. "So I don't see why you should care."

"Why I should care?" Sirius asked, his voice growing in octaves. "Because I'm losing my _best mate _because of a _girl_!"

His words echoed in the silent room. James took a deep breath and swallowed.

"I'm sorry, Pads. I'm sorry."

With that James turned on his heel and walked out of the room, still dressed in his wrinkled clothes from the day before.

"What happened?" Remus asked, rolling over and finally waking up.

"A Marauder walked out," Sirius said, not looking at Remus.

Remus took his words without speaking. He nodded even though he knew Sirius couldn't see him; he knew what had happened; he knew they'd had a fight.

"And what makes you so special?" he asked Sirius. "How are you so bright and cheerful this morning? Aren't you supposed to have a hang-over?"

Sirius grinned and looked at him. "Hang-over potion… James got some too."

Once again Remus nodded. If only they'd both had a calming potion.

- - - - -

Lily had gotten up early. She didn't know why, exactly, but she had just jerked awake in bed, thinking many thoughts that were bordering on the label of 'explicit.' But James Potter had played in her dreams that evening…and that was more than disturbing for her.

She sat up in bed, breathing heavily and after an hour of attempted tries, gave up on the fact that she wouldn't be able to get back to sleep. So she wrote a letter to Alice and decided to send it to her before the three Marauders woke up.

_Alice,_

_Guess who's sharing Gryffindor common room with me? THE MARAUDERS! With the exception of Peter. I guess he wasn't able to spend the summer. But yes… I ran into them in a passageway the other day. I can't believe Dumbledore didn't tell me they'd be staying! So now I suppose I have three boys for company. Bugger – now I can't girlify their dorm. It kind of depresses me, actually. I hope your summer is better than mine. Love,_

_Lily_

She already had the note rolled up and sealed, ready to be owled for over an hour and she hadn't even heard the slightest sound coming from the Marauders' room. She sighed, picked up her letter and walked up towards the Owlery.

And that was how she'd managed to get herself standing at the window, looking out at the Hogwarts grounds, completely lost in thought.

That was also how she was rammed into by none other than James Potter.

"Ouch!" Lily exclaimed, stumbling back, being ripped from her daydream.

"Oh…" James looked up, noticing he'd ran into someone. "Sorry, Evans," he said. He turned his head down and continued walking.

"James?" Lily asked, turning around to watch him walk. He didn't turn around. "James?" she repeated, walking up to him. He continued walking as if he wasn't there. "James!" Lily exclaimed, placing her hand on his shoulder and twisting him around to face her.

James was depressed, that was for sure, but he couldn't help but feel his skin tingle and his heart pound at the feel of Lily's hand on his arm. It felt so right.

To him, at least.

"What is _wrong _with you today?" Lily asked, looking deep in his eyes, concerned.

James liked her eyes. They were pretty green and when she was really focused on something (like now, for instance) they went really round and seemed to shine brighter. He wanted to lock eyes with her for the rest of the day and whisper his devotion into her ear… but he couldn't. Not after the row with Sirius. Not after what he said. Not after… not after being told what he'd been told.

He averted his eyes and looked down at the ground.

"It's nothing, Evans," he mumbled. "I'm fine."

"If its nothing, Potter," Lily said, reaching for his hand, "then you can tell me."

"No, I can't," James said sadly. "But you already saw most of it, so you shouldn't need to know."

He spun on his heel and stalked away before Lily could register what he'd said.

- - - - -

The Astronomy tower seemed like a good place to run to. The view, the distance, the really long fall down… it seemed good enough.

James pushed through the door and breathed in the fresh air, calming himself immediately. He needed a break. He needed to get away. He needed something _new_.

Seconds later James collapsed on the cement into a small heap, tears falling from his eyes, shaking silently with many gasps. This wasn't _working_. Lily was supposed to love _him _not Remus. She was supposed to want him. Sirius was supposed to be his _best mate _and not be the one to tell him he'd lost _his _best mate to a girl. Sirius was supposed to be there no matter what – that's what best friends did. They were there for each other.

The wind was blowing, dark clouds loomed above him, threatening summer rain… everything was peaceful, for the first time in his life. Everything was peaceful when he was feeling like death was close.

James gulped and looked up at the sky and saw the clouds swirling. Rain was coming. Rain was coming soon, he knew it. Maybe everything old and bad would be washed away and he could start anew. Maybe he could just dream, just reach a little farther and it'd all be better.

He sat, lost in thought for a while, not noticing when a shadow fell over him and another figure sat next to him.

"Many people think rain is a form of purification; that it only rains when someone needs their sins washed away. Sometimes, when people suffer, they walk out into the rain and let it soak through their clothes and wash everything away. I like to think that. It's a great way to just… calm… you," she said quietly, looking up at the sky.

James knew it was her. He knew she was sitting next to him, talking to him. He knew she was being a friend and getting his mind off of everything. He knew she was there for him, if he wanted to talk.

He nodded in agreement but kept quiet. She wouldn't understand. Even if she did, he couldn't tell her because it'd be wrong. She was the thing that was bugging him. He couldn't confess to her all the things about her that was driving him mad. In a good way, of course. But he just couldn't do it.

"I'm always here, James," she said, looking at him. But he didn't meet her eyes. Instead he continued to gaze up at the darkening clouds. It was only two o'clock yet the wind seemed to blow like nine.

"I'm sorry if I ever hurt you, James," she said. "I never really knew that it was all so important to you. I don't think I ever knew how you felt."

He gulped but kept his eyes away from hers. Her eyes could unleash everything he restrained. Her eyes were like a secret key to everything of his.

"I can't like you, James," she said. "I cant – you're too different from me."

"No you're not," he said, speaking his words for the first time in the conversation.

"James, you need to understand – I'm trying to reach out to you and tell you everything for some sodding reason that I just don't know…. Maybe Remus's gotten to me or something but I know that I definitely _cannot _have a relationship with you. I'm sorry," she said quietly.

"Why not, Lily?" he asked pitifully.

"It'd hurt too much."

"I would _never _hurt you, Lily!" James exclaimed.

"Not like that, James," she whispered.

"Then how?" he asked.

"If it didn't work out between us I'd be heartbroken…"

"No you wouldn't be… you'd be happy."

"That's not true, James!" she cried.

"Why?" he asked loudly over the wind, unable to understand her meaning.

"Because I love you, James!" she choked out tearfully.

James stared at her for a moment.

The clouds had broken and rain was beginning to fall rapidly on the ground. A yellow flash of lightning lit up the sky and James could study Lily's tear-filled eyes watching him in agony.

He uncrossed his legs and leaned over, his hands on either side of Lily's waist, and pushed her down, ready to kiss her until the rain soaked through their skin. She let him guide her down and take comfort on her chest. He was in heaven.

As his mouth made contact with her petal soft lips their eyes snapped open.

And with a pounding heart James opened his eyes to see rain pouring down from the sky onto him and the astronomy tower with rain splattered on his glasses and drops leaking from his eyes. He sighed and rolled over on his side to a fresh spot of wet concrete to remember that it was just a dream.


	5. Hoggy's Fault

**A/N:** Hah – does anyone remember that? The Hogwarts song? Hoggy, Hoggy Hogwarts? )

**Chapter Five: **Hoggy's Fault

* * *

James spent the rest of the day up on the Astronomy tower. For five more hours he laid on the wet cement, staring up at the dark clouds and hating every essence of Hogwarts. It was Hogwarts' fault; after all, James reasoned with himself, that his life was the way it was. If he hadn't been for the four founders, there would have never been a Hogwarts – if there had never been a Hogwarts, he would have never met his friends or seen Lily. If he'd never seen Lily, he'd never have fallen in love with her. If he'd never met his friends, he wouldn't loathe one for being liked by Lily. _Yes,_ he thought, _Hogwarts is to blame_. He frowned up at the sky as he made a mental list of more things he hated about Hogwarts. Much to his bitter disappointment, however, he couldn't think of any more.

At seven thirty, as the rain finally stopped, James stood up and made his way inside. After five hours of thinking, he knew he had to apologize to his friend for their row. Moony, however, was a different matter.

He knew his friend meant no harm. He also knew that they had indeed made the Dibs Pact. But all the same, he couldn't help but feel his insides writhe with jealousy when thinking about the love of his life with one of his best mates.

He trudged along the corridor and down the moving staircases to the Gryffindor common room, with the slopping of his wet trainers the only sound to his ears.

When he entered the Gryffindor common room, none of the others were there, so he continued to the boys' dormitory, hoping he'd have better luck there. He pushed open the door and saw who he was looking for: Sirius.

"Hey," he said quietly.

"Hey," replied Sirius, looking up from the magazine he was reading.

"Where is everyone?"

"Evans is down by the lake; Wormtail's in the kitchens and Moony's in the library, I think."

"Oh." After a second he added, "Can I talk to you?"

"I'm all ears."

"Er," James begun, feeling a bit embarrassed. "I'm sorry, mate, really, I am… I don't… I'm… forgive me?"

"Forgive _you_? Seriously? I was the one who went off on you for trying to win Evans's heart! _I_ was the one who berated you about proving your intentions her. _I_ should be the one asking you for forgiveness!" Sirius was on his feet, looking at his best friend with wide eyes. James smiled. "Do you forgive _me_?" Sirius asked.

"At the risk of sounding like a girl: of course. Do you forgive me?"

"I will once you've done something."

"And what's that?"

"Talk to Moony."

James frowned. He knew he was wrong about his friend. He knew he had to talk to him. He just didn't want to admit to being a childish fool who'd wrongly accused his friend while under the influence of fire whiskey.

He took a deep breath. "Alright."

"Alright," Sirius mimicked, sharing a quick masculine hug with James. "I'll meet you both in the kitchens when you're through."

- - - - -

The door to the library creaked open and Remus, who was sitting at one of the many tables, looked up from his book. When he saw the figure that was unmistakably James, he sighed. He didn't hate his friend – he wasn't mad at his friend – he just figured that there would be another shouting match, which, he thought sadly, would probably interrupt the typical silence found in the library.

Remus knew James had only said what he had said out of his drunkenness and disappointment at still having not gotten Lily to date him after six years of persistent trying. So when James stood in front of him, casting his eyes down at the floor, Remus decided to pay him the time of day, like any decent friend would do.

James stared at Remus, his brows knitted in thought. The two boys studied the other's face; Remus waiting to hear what James had to say, and James waiting for words to come to him. After a moment, Remus said:

"It was bound to be expected – I don't hate you."

James breathed a sigh of relief. "Thanks, Moony. You have no idea how much that means to me."

"I think I might have an idea," he replied with a smile.

James changed the subject. "Want to meet Sirius in the kitchens? I'm starving…"

"Sure, me too…"

When the boys arrived at the kitchens a few minutes later, Sirius was sitting before a large pile of food.

"Oh, thanks, Pads," James said, reaching for a piece of chicken.

Sirius slapped his hand away. "Get your own food!"

"But isn't this for all of us?" Remus asked.

"Pssht, no," Sirius said. "This is _mine_. M-y-n."

Remus stared at him. "Where's Lily?" he asked a pack of house elves rushed up to get orders for what he and James wanted. James told them to bring what Sirius had.

"She's at the lake, I think," Sirius said between bites of food.

At half past eight, Lily walked through the portrait to the kitchens.

"Oh," she said. "Sorry, I didn't know you were all here."

"It's s'alright, Evans," said Sirius. "We were just talking about getting our Apparation licenses."

Lily sat down beside Sirius. "Are you all seventeen?" she asked.

"No – I'll be seventeen in a week. On the seventh," Sirius frowned.

"Really? I have to wait 'til the twenty-sixth."

"You're not seventeen yet?" James asked incredulously.

"No."

"Well that explains why we've never had a big hoop-hah about your birthday," Remus said.

"Yeah… I usually just have a small family party with some of my friends. My sister never likes it much, though."

"Why not?" James asked.

Lily studied him for a minute before answering. "She doesn't like me much."

"What?! Who couldn't like you?" James said, astonished.

"She doesn't like what I am."

"A Witch?" Remus asked.

"Yes – she thinks I'm a freak."

Remus scowled. "That's not right."

"Yes, well, the only other Wizard she ever met she didn't really like," Lily said, reflecting on the only other magical being that had ever met Petunia.

"That's a shame, seeing as you're her sister."

"Oh well – I won't be having a birthday celebration with her around this year." Lily frowned before slapping on a happy face and dishing some potatoes onto her plate. "So you both are seventeen, then?" She looked between James and Remus.

"Yes. I've been since December," James said.

"And I've been," Remus said, "for about a month."

"So do you already have your license?" Lily asked James.

"No – I've been waiting for Padfoot so the three of us can do it together." Lily smiled at this.

"Well that's nice of you."

She nearly slapped herself. Had she just _complimented_ James Potter?

James realized this, too. "Er, yeah… thanks." An awkward silence fell over the table.

"Well, I'm stuffed. I think I'm off to bed – I don't suggest following me for a bit though; I think I'll take some time in the loo." Sirius stood up and scampered out of the kitchen, leaving the others disgusted at his remark.

* * *

**A/N**: Sorry for such a short and cheesy chapter. I needed a filler chapter to fix a bridge between what happened last chapter and what I want to happen next chapter. Next chapter up soon! 


	6. Left Hand, Green

**A/N: **I have nothing to be said for my Saturday.

**Chapter Six: **Left Hand, Green

* * *

_Lily—_

_Oh my Merlin – the Marauders?! No way! Seriously? ...Well, Lily, it's settled. The Fates have done their job – you're just destined to be with Potter! And you know, you can still re-decorate their room – maybe while they're out gallivanting around or stuffing their faces in the kitchens? You've got a wand – it can't possibly take _that _long! Only ten minutes or so! And when you're done, get some photographs, would you? Thanks hon, you're a doll. ) Morwena and Mary send their love. Please don't die – I'd like you to live to see your seventeenth birthday. Much love,_

_Alice_

Lily smiled at her friend's note (but she grimaced sourly at her bit about the Fates) that morning after being rudely awoken by a brown owl tapping at her window. She now sat, fully dressed at nine A.M., at a table in the Gryffindor common room, composing a reply to Alice. After signing it, she rolled it up and sealed it, then made her way to the Owlery.

Before sending off her letter, she gave it a quick final read.

_Alice—_

_Har, har, har – I just love your humor. You'd make a good Muggle stand-up comedian some day, you know. Either way, thank you for your sentiments. I know you pity me. …I'll definitely re-decorate their room sometime when I get a chance and they're in a particularly happy mood (maybe after a day they've been to the Hog's Head – although their last visit there didn't end too smoothly, so I best not do that). Send Morwena and Mary my love back – and you too, of course. I miss you girls loads! Tell me about your summer when you get a chance! Best,_

_Lily_

- - - - -

James had rolled out of bed that morning, moaning and groaning from a particularly painful dream involving an improper transfiguration into his Animagus form. After landing in a thrashing heap of limbs and draperies at the side of his bed, James had given up hope of falling back asleep. After all, he'd reasoned with himself, it was eight A.M. and there wasn't much more sleep he'd be able to get with Sirius's loud snores and Moony's constant mumbling of, "saccharine, audacious, synonym, antonym, scorching, mmmlaah." With having to listen to his mumblings, James would make his brain explode, trying to understand what each word meant and trying to find a definition for 'mmmlaah,' – because it surely had to be a word; Remus would never say something that wasn't a word by the dictionary's terms.

After getting ready, James decided to take a stroll around Hogwarts. It'd been a while since he'd done any random wandering. During the school-year he always took alternate routes to classes (unless it meant that he would miss an opportunity to ask out Evans, then he would take a way to cross paths with her) and explored each hallway. During the summer, however, he hadn't yet gotten that chance; the only paths the boys ever took were to and from the kitchens, dormitories, loos and Hogsmeade.

Upon reaching the Owlery, James opted to turn back. There was nothing interesting this far away from the Great Hall and absolutely nothing colder (even in the midst of summer). As he rounded the corner, however, and passed the set of stairs descending from the Owlery, he saw a vivid flash of red hair and what he knew to be Lily. He sped up a bit before falling into stride with her.

"Fancy that – we're both up early," James said.

"Good morning, James," Lily said, keeping her eyes facing forward.

"So I s'pose…"

"What do you suppose?" Lily asked when he didn't finish his sentence.

"I dunno. I'm trying to figure it out."

She nodded.

"Right, well," James said, "what were you planning on doing this morning?"

"I wanted to walk around and see which professors-"

This time James waited for her to finish her sentence. "See which professors…" he offered her.

She opened and closed her mouth before saying, "Well, I'm not so sure I want to share with you."

He laughed. She couldn't help but notice how the deepness of his voice transferred when he laughed with spirit – it tickled her ear like an incessantly annoying yet soft feather. She brushed that thought aside as she put her hair behind her ear and heard James say, "You don't want me to know where you're going? That's just bollocks, that is – I'm going to find out anyway."

She pouted. "Fine, alright – I just wanted to see which professors were still here and wander around Hogwarts for a bit," she said in a rush. James smiled at her.

"See? Now that wasn't too hard, was it?" He smiled again.

"I never said it was hard," she said indignantly. "I merely said I didn't want to share."

"Ah, well either way – do you mind if I join you?"

"I s'pose I have no choice, do I? You'll just follow me 'round wherever I go and say you simply had the same intentions as me and it was a mere coincidence that we happened to be going to the same place… you'd do exactly as you did last year. And the year before that, and the year before that and the-"

"Alright, I get the point, thank you very much," James snapped. "I get that I was a bit annoying."

It was Lily's turn to laugh. "'Was'? 'A bit'? Hah. You're a hoot, you really are." She continued laughing mirthlessly for a minute before silencing herself and looking at James.

"I just know what I want, is all."

"And you, Mr. Potter," Lily said with the smallest hint of a smile, "want what any Quidditch player wants – the prize. He wants what he cannot have, and I, sir, am what you cannot have." James frowned at her. "Now," Lily said with an odd trace of perkiness, "I'm going to go find professors. Care to join me, Mr. Potter?"

James grumbled. "Sure," he muttered before following in her wake as she walked the familiar path to their classes.

Had he really just had that conversation with Lily? With Lily Evans? Sure, it wasn't much of a conversation; it wasn't one of those I-love-you-so-freaking-much I've-been-dying-to-tell-you-my-true-feelings oh-and-hey-how-about-a-quick-snog conversations he was always dreaming about, but it was definitely something. It was definitely a conversation that crossed a line his feet had some how never found before. He slapped Lily with his honesty. She wasn't expecting it; and yet, at the same time, she was. Maybe it wasn't his determination she was expecting; or maybe it wasn't his ability to admit negatives about himself. Or maybe, he thought, maybe it was just something as unimportant as a conversation about the weather.

- - - - -

"Why would Sprout stay here for the summer?" James asked. They had just seen Professor Sprout's office and sleeping quarters with the door ajar and some Muggle tunes wafting through the small crack. James was protesting his argument on why would a teacher such as Sprout want to stay at Hogwarts during the summer when she surely had a family – or at least _someone_ to visit outside of Hogwarts. Sprout was a cool teacher, he'd protested, and the cool professors _never_ stayed at the school for the summer. "It's just not right!" he said.

"Well first – apparently you're a 'cool kid' so even you shouldn't be staying here for the summer, Potter," Lily said. "So you might as well just pack up your trunk and head home for the summer and not burden Hogwarts with your 'essence of cool.'" She glared at him. "And also – why would Sprout give up her greenhouses? She loves everything she grows – _they_ happen to be her family, I think. I don't think any of the professors here have families," she added as an afterthought.

"Everyone has a family, Lily, don't be stupid," James said with a snort.

"Yes, they might have parents or siblings but they don't have their _own_ families – husbands, wives, children. It must be awfully depressing, teaching." She frowned. She'd always sort of considered coming back to teach Charms when Flitwick retired or maybe taking up the Potions position when Slughorn left Hogwarts… now she wasn't so sure. She'd decided that she'd want to get married and have kids – if she taught at Hogwarts her family would be away from her.

"Yes, that's why all the professors have their knickers in a twist – like McGonagall. She doesn't have family. She's just an old lady with a secret dying passion for Dumbledore."

Lily gasped. "What?!"

"You haven't heard – they meet every night during the year in the Headmaster's office and play games." James grinned.

"That's not true – how dare you say that!"

"What, do you love Dumbledore or something? Is it really _you_ who goes up to visit him every night?"

Lily glared at him. He grinned right back.

"You sicken me," Lily hissed.

James felt a small pang in his stomach. He blinked and immediately wished he could take back what he said. "No you don't."

"You sicken me! You little sodding toerag – you can never be kind! You take every damn opportunity to be disgusting and ruin decent moments!" She stomped her foot in anger, her face turning the color of her hair in spitting rage. "Ugh!" she screamed after he gave no response, marching off in the direction of the Charms room.

James sighed. He really needed to learn how to hold his tongue.

"Evans!" he called, following her as she marched out of sight. "C'mon, Evans, I'm – I'm – I'm sorry, alright? I didn't mean it."

She stopped when his hand enclosed her upper arm. She turned to look at him, his eyes staring intently into hers. "Look, I'm sorry."

"That does-" she started.

"_Evans and Potter, sittin' in a tree, K-I-S-S-I-N-G. First comes love, then comes marriage, then comes a Quaffle in the baby carriage!_"Peeves passed over them, cackling as he blew a wet raspberry. They both blushed at Peeves's song.

"That stupid little bit of life!" Lily snarled.

"He's a ghost, Lily – he doesn't live. Surely you knew that?" James said sardonically. She glared at him again. "Now," he said with a smile. "He could be right – you want to love me, marry me, then have a gorgeous green-eyed baby with me?" He smirked.

Lily's green eyes widened and her cheeks grew red – whether it was anger or embarrassment, James couldn't tell – before firing off, "Potter!" with an ear-splitting shriek.

"Now, Evans," James started smoothly. "Remember our first name basis."

Lily's tone softened as she said, "Oh, I'm sorry – you're right – last I checked, my name was 'Lily,' not 'Evans!'"

"On the contrary, 'Evans' is a _part_ of your name, although, yes, Lily dear, your name is not _only_ 'Evans.'"

Lily faked a smile. "You're such a smart ass, Mr. _Potter_." She paused. "Now, if you don't mind, I'm heading back up to the common room." She turned on her heel and walked away, James following a safe distance behind. Maybe the long walk up to the tower would help her forget her hatred of him.

- - - - -

The four teenagers lay sprawled in different areas of the Gryffindor common room. Lily was in an arm chair, her feet over one arm and her back up against the other, with a Muggle book (_The Picture of Dorian Gray_, by Oscar Wilde) open on her legs, reading. Remus was sitting with perfect posture in another arm chair opposite Lily's, reading _Werewolves That Made History_ with great interest. James was sprawled on his back on one of the couches, his right leg up on the back of it, his left arm cast dramatically over his forehead and the remainder of his limbs hanging loosely on the couch. Sirius was on the couch opposite James's, stretched out on his stomach, his left arm dangling off the couch and his legs stretching over its arms.

None of the teenagers seemed to be discontent with their positions of activity – Lily was enjoying her book as was Remus and James was taking the small bit of silence to doze off and ponder the next and final year at Hogwarts. Sirius, however, was not pleased with the silence in the room and the fact that his limbs were doing nothing useful except turn numb from Charlie horses.

"I'm bored," Sirius moaned.

"So find something to do, Sirius," Remus said.

"Let's all do something," he replied.

"Arhh," James agreed, "I agree with yee, matey."

"The pirates have decided!" Sirius exclaimed. "Let us commence and decide what to do!"

Lily put her book down. "What do you want to do?" she asked Sirius.

"I'm not sure."

"So you decide, then let us know and we'll figure out if we want to tag along or not." She went back to reading.

"Wanna skip rocks?" Sirius asked.

"No," James answered.

"Go to Hogsmeade?"

"No." He felt sour just thinking of his last experience there.

"Room of Requirement?"

"Yes! Let's go!" James got up off the couch.

"The what?" Lily asked.

"The Room of Requirement – haven't you heard of it?" Sirius said.

"Er… no."

"Then we're definitely going!" James chimed in. "Remus, mate, put down that book, you're coming with us."

Remus sighed. "What do you plan to do when we're there?" he asked.

"I dunno – surely the Room will provide us with something entertaining for a few hours."

"Alright…." He put down his book and followed James and Sirius out of the portrait hole, walking beside Lily.

"What's the Room of Requirement?" Lily asked.

"It's a Room that gives you what you need. When you walk past it a few times, thinking of what you need, a door will appear and you can go in and it'll provide you with everything possible to aid you in your need. It's an amazing Room, really." Remus nodded.

"So you can ask for anything?"

"Well – you can really only ask for objects. Or to be Unplottable. You can't ask for, say, the person of your dreams," Remus smirked. "James has tried it," he added. Lily didn't smile.

"That's interesting," she said, disregarding his last bit. "Can it provide you with Muggle things?"

"I suppose… to a certain extent. What did you have in mind?"

"Well, if Black," she started, then, seeing Remus raise an eyebrow at her, she corrected herself. "Sorry, if _Sirius_ wants to play games or having something to do – couldn't we request some Muggle board games or something?

Remus grinned. "That would definitely prove to be fun."

"So we'll have to ask for some." Lily smiled.

When they arrived at the tapestry of Barnabas the Barmy, they stopped and stared at the blank space of wall before them.

"Right," said Sirius. "Now what do we want?"

"We want games," said James. "Lots of games."

Sirius began to walk slowly, thinking of games.

"And Muggle games," Lily added.

"Muggle games?" James scoffed. "What kind of fun are Muggle games? They don't _do_ anything."

"You can see them when we get them – ask for them, Sirius."

He rolled his eyes and thought of Muggle games and couches, food, windows, Quidditch, moving pictures of Wizarding bands, anything fun under the sun that he could think of.

After walking past the piece of wall three times, Sirius stopped and the four of them looked at the door. James walked forward and placed his hand on the handle, opening the large brick door and motioning for the rest to enter.

"Wow," Lily whispered quietly as she looked around.

They were standing in a large room with a massive window overlooking the grounds. There were bookcases of Muggle board games piled high, there were books, a life-size version of Wizard's Chess, a table version of Wizard's Chess, a small kitchen with food galore, a miniature Quidditch pitch with small stick people and brooms, posters of Wizarding bands, stacks of cards – everything.

"Sweet!" Sirius exclaimed, running to jump on a rather large bean bag, which was approximately the size of a small mountain. The second his feet hit the soft surface, the beans sank under his weight and he disappeared into the center.

James dashed off to see the miniature Quidditch pitch, Remus went to examine the life-size version of Wizard's Chess and Lily went to the Muggle board games.

After they'd all had their own individual bouts of fun, Sirius and James wandered over the bookcases where Remus and Lily were, and asked blandly, "So now what?"

"Would you like to play a board game?" Lily asked, gesturing to the collection of games.

"What's a board game?" James asked.

Lily laughed at him. "It's a game. Just pick one and we'll play it."

Sirius and James studied the stack of games. They decided on one by the title – pulling it out of the stack and handing it to Lily. She gulped.

"Twister?" she asked. "You guys want to play _Twister_?"

"We don't know – the title just seemed cool," Sirius said.

"Alright, well," Remus said, "Let's play. I'll be referee."

"No, Remus," Lily said sternly. "If I've got to play with Sirius and James, then you've got to play as well."

"But there's supposed to be a ref," he said.

"Well bewitch it," she said. "You're playing."

Remus sighed. He just knew his friends were going to love playing Twister. Especially James.

- - - - -

After the rules were explained, James, Sirius, Lily and Remus stood around the Twister mat. Lily twirled her wand and pointed it at the spinner. It took it's time spinning before landing.

"Right foot blue," said the squeaky voice of the spinner.

The three Marauders and Lily all moved to put their right foot on a blue circle. Their feet made a line on four of the six blue circles.

The spinner spun again. "Left hand, green," squeaked the voice.

Lily groaned. They had to bend over. She bent at the waist and reached her left hand towards the closest green circle. Her arm snuck under Sirius's torso.

"Well hey there, Lily," Sirius smirked. She rolled her eyes in response. Once they were all situated, the spinner started to move again.

"Right foot, yellow."

They all slid their right feet from blue to yellow.

"Right hand, red."

They stretched over each other, slid arms under legs and legs over heads. Once they were all balancing precariously around each other, the spinner moved again, landing on 'left foot green.' They moved around.

A number of issues cropped up in the game.

"Argh, your bum's in my face, Padfoot!"

"Just to let you know, Sirius, your arm is very near my testicles."

"Whoa, Evans, nice view."

"Oh Merlin, _what_ is on my leg?!"

They were all twisted into one heap of limbs, all their legs (with the exception of Quidditch star, James) were shaking, their fingers hurt and their eyes had seen way much more than necessary. Finally, the spinner landed on "Left hand red."

Sirius reached out past Remus's ankle, Lily's wrist and James's torso to place his left hand on red. He struggled to reach the small circle, grumbling and mumbling as he did so.

"Padfoot, don't even try," Remus moaned. "Please… you're going to make us all collapse."

"No!" Sirius exclaimed from below the rest of them. "I shall not forfeit!"

As he finally reached the small circle, his side bashed into Lily's and his shoulder hit Remus's leg. Lily gave a shriek as she tried to re-balance herself, but it was no use.

They all landed with a moan of pain atop each other's arms, legs, heads and chests, all defeated by a simple game.

* * *

**A/N: **Twister was created in 1966, if you don't know what it is, I suggest you visit or perhaps Also, thank you to everyone who reviewed the last few chapters – they definitely made my day and made me want to write more. I really appreciate them. 


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